Cascadia Poetry Festival Vancouver Island Canada

21-Aug-2014

Thursday, April 30th, 2015 - Sunday, May 3rd, 2015

The Cascadia Poetry Festival (schedule below) is an international event which seeks to bioregionally animate & culturally construct Cascadia by gathering writers, artists, scientists and activists to collaborate, discover and foster deeper connection between all inhabitants and the place itself. Over four days the fest features Academic, Democratic and Performance components, late night readings, a Small Press Fair and several workshops. Some of the best poetry minds in the bioregion will gather, discuss this place and begin to better understand Cascadia and our role here. The festival was founded by SPLAB, a Seattle-based non-profit organization founded in 1993 and the first iteration happened in 2012. Cascadia III will happen in Nanaimo, BC, in 2015.
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2:45 – 1:40pm, Location: VIU Bldg. 355, Room TBA
Viewing of the Documentary: “The Line Has Shattered”
“The Line Has Shattered” (55 min.), is a new documentary exploring the 1963 Vancouver Poetry Conference. The film is directed by Robert McTavish.

Robert McTavish is a Canadian documentary film-maker whose works include Ghosts on the Land (2001), Fiddler’s Map (2003) and What To Make of It All?: The Life and Poetry of John Newlove (2006). He also edited A Long Continual Argument: The Selected Poems of John Newlove (Chaudiere Books, 2007, afterword by Jeff Derksen) which was hailed by the Globe and Mail as “a fitting monument to the poet’s consummate craftsmanship, and a cause for national celebration.”

3:00 – 5:00pm, Location: Nanaimo Museum, 100 Museum Way
Host: Mary Ann Moore
The Living Room: A free and open democratic reading where people read their own work and listen to others in a circle format.

Cascadia Geography: Place and Spirit, David McCloskey, Professor Emeritus at Seattle University and Founder of the Cascadia Institute. The “Father of Cascadia” says: “Cascadia is a real place! A quick tour of the latest images and understandings of Cascadia’s geography and ecology making it a distinctive bioregion with its own character and context.”

What defines Cascadia’s innovative poetry? What has been innovative historically? In what directions is Cascadia’s poetry going in the future. Where poetic tradition and history merges with the future.
Panelists: Paul Nelson, Barry McKinnon, George Stanley, Ursula Vaira

1:00 – 1:55pm, Location: VIU Bldg. 355, Room TBA
Viewing of the Documentary: “The Line Has Shattered”
(Other Showing Times Remaining Saturday May 2 at 1:00-1:55 and Sunday May 3 at 1:45-2:35

3:00 – 5:00pm Location: Nanaimo Museum, 100 Museum Way
Host: Leanne McIntosh
The Living Room: A free and open democratic reading where people read their own work and listen to others in a circle format.

10:00pm – Onward, Location: The Globe Bar and Grill, 25 Front Street
Host: Graham Isaac
The After Party: 30 + poets from around Cascadia read one poem each with lot of time for socializing between the three sets.